Hundreds of miles of Georgia roads will now be covered with the patented solution from Airsage as the company, which is the premier provider of real-time traffic information, is working with the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) to provide metro Atlanta drivers with real-time traffic data through Georgia NaviGAtor, the DOT’s traffic information Web site. With this, GDOT officials can now monitor and report traffic conditions on hundreds of miles of roadway south of Atlanta from Interstate 285 southward beyond the Macon area.

The officials are always in need to of better technology to report and record traffic patterns. The technology by Airsage helps them to do the same and it is less expensive to the state than alternatives, including roadside sensors. GDOT has met Atlanta-based AirSage and developed a research project to use traffic data derived from anonymous wireless signals. The company states that the research has shown that WiSE™ (Wireless Signal Extraction) technology, instead of traditional sensors, is a viable alternative, especially for large-scale deployments.

With the help of this technology, GDOT can now provide the public with traffic information covering hundreds of miles of roadways across the state. Travelers will have easy access to traffic  information between Atlanta and Macon, as well as south of Macon. Plans are also on to include Airsage data in Georgia 511 system.

With the additional information provided by Airsage, the drivers can make better informed decisions regarding their driving times and routes. This is expected to reduce the time spend in traffic and the total travel time. In a press release, Mark Demidovich, GDOT’s assistant state traffic engineer said, “GDOT had an extensive network of video-based sensors in and around the metropolitan Atlanta area; however, we were fairly blind when it came to monitoring other roadways around the state. We were looking for a quicker, lower-cost solution other than laying hundreds of miles of fiber and thousands of detection units.”

The best part about the Airsage technology is that it provides an effective alternative to other technologies apart from being inexpensive. The technology is easy to understand and hence, it can be implemented quickly. For example, data for 1,000 miles of roadway across the entire state could be implemented within a few months whereas it took five to 10 years for sensors.

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